Lancer, Take Me by The Heart
by Fear-Fades-Hope-Lives-4Eva
Summary: Being a Delivery Person should not be this exciting or dangerous. Pairing is leaning towards Cu but we're up in the air on when that'll happen lol
1. Too Cul for Scul

Note: I have no excuses. (I am all here for as many bad pun titles as I can make, btw. I blame you, milk.)

* * *

1\. Too Cul for Schul

The cold breath of late night air stung her cheeks and she burrowed further behind her scarf, fingers aching even as she curled them around the hand warmers she just bought. Why in the world had her boss wanted her to make a drop delivery to some church in the middle of the night? And the manila folder must have had one or two sheets of paper in it, it was so thin.

A shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the weighted feel of being watched by someone. Even when she'd discreetly surveyed the grounds through her hair, there hadn't been a sign of anyone around. She would have spread her aura out but something about those holy grounds felt… off. If she had her way, she'd be cuddled up under the new kotatsu she'd just installed for her new apartment, sipping on cocoa and wondering why her boss wanted her to be stationed here in Fuyuki.

She didn't even have the reassurance of having her family nearby. Tokyo and Kyushu Island might as well be on opposite sides of the Earth, for how lonely it was living on her own. The idea of adopting a cat or two, maybe even a dog, plagued her tired mind. Her most convincing argument to herself, besides companionship, was knowing the od generated between her and the animals would create positive mana that would help her greenhouse thrive.

Homurahara Academy loomed to her left when she finally managed to unbury her face from her scarf, looking dark and imposing with its high roofs and excess of forestry planted around it. The grounds were certainly nicer than her school back in Tokyo. She blinked, pausing for a second to stare back up at the gated roof. It had looked like there were people up there. Some rebellious teens, maybe?

From the clip on her hip, her phone vibrated and when she finally freed it and unlocked the screen, a text from her boss let her know that the package had been received. A second ping came from her phone, from her bank account, letting her know the payment had gone through.

Kagome sighed and kept walking, stuffing the phone in her pocket then back on her clip. Becoming a messenger/deliver for Mage related business had sounded a lot more exciting when she'd first heard about the position, its pay, and the opportunity to travel. That, and the bastard was usually trying to keep her as far away from any meetings or correspondences that were held by people with more than decent amounts of mana stores.

'You meddle too much. It's dangerous for the company.' He'd said, not looking up from his paperwork.

"Well, _excuse_ me for finding it a little deplorable when children are being treated as less than for the sake of a stupid _object_." She muttered scathingly, regretting she hadn't beaten his head in with his stupid name plaque.

Holy Grail This. Holy Grail That. Magecraft must be upheld. The values must live through each generation.

The whole thing just sounded like some stupid capitalized Shikon War. And heaven forbid they ever found out about that particular artifact considering how they frothed over this Grail. Found out, like her, that she had traveled to another world of Japan that was mixed with humans and demons and how her powers had changed and expanded.

Today was one of those days where she definitely did not appreciate any of it. Being told that she'd only have one assignment today, and that it would be done by foot because the only company vehicle was out of commission, had gotten her hopes up. She'd left for this job around noon and now it was almost midnight.

_Sching._

She stiffened, stance widening, hands coming up, as her eyes flicked to the left. Metal clashed over and over again, fast and harsh, in the silence of the night. Now that she was paying attention, the prana stirring inside the school grounds was distorted, hostile. This was Mage's mana and something else.

A rippling sensation traveled over her when she stepped through the entrance, a different signature from the manas clashing just past the building ahead of her.

Mouth parting, she watched the two warriors come to blows.

They were fast, flicking across the grounds in flashes of blue and red, sparks from their weapons giving some leeway to their looks. Long blue locks, spiked white hair, both of them adorned in what looked like bodysuits rather than anything armor wise.

A quiet gasp had her finally noticing the young woman standing just off to her right. No school uniform but the transfixed, unguarded stance she held screamed civilian. Her mana was mixed with the red warrior's, undulating softly even in the midst of this battle.

It-No. Her nails scraped unpleasantly against the building, teeth grinding together. The bastard Mage Organization was so desperate to get ahold of the grail, they had children this young participate! They couldn't-

"Whos' there?!"

'_Shit!'_

She spun around and ran. She'd thought she'd stayed out of sight and her mana hadn't leaked out of her at any point. With their speed, there was no way she would make it off the school grounds and still be able to hide. She'd barely managed to get past the building before one - just one - mana signature followed after her. Fast. Faster than she was already expecting.

It had been too long since she ran with demons and there had never been a reason to keep up such inhuman standards for her body. Desperate, pulse in her ears, heart in her throat, her hands hit the rough bark of the nearest tree, quickly sliding up to grasp a leaf.

The Higurashi Magecraft and their crest, the one her father had not received from her grandfather before his passing, the one she'd received only two years ago, centered around protection. Centered around being hidden from everyone, even The Mage's Association. The warmth of its mana seared across her back as she activated it.

Her mana traced over the leaf, from its base to its midrib, through its veins, felt the water that sat in it, and breathed. Any exposed skin went rough and hard, stiff, like bark, hair falling from her shredded pony to cascade down and around her, rustling like leaves.

Through the haze and water and air, she took in the blue warrior that had followed her.

Skin curved and molded into muscle and iron, covered in tight blue cloth and the shine of metal armor. A menacing red spear sat in his hand, grasped tight, white knuckled. Long blue hair swayed in the same wind that sung around her and he turned, burning blood red eyes skipping right over her.

Her breath caught.

Everything about this man, this _Spirit_, screamed foreign, except for his accent. Perfect Japanese had come from him but she'd never read of a warrior like him in Japanese history.

She watched with bated breath while he continued to scan the area around him. He muttered something about having been seen and a Master. There was no way he had any intention of intimidating her into not talking about what she saw.

The girl and the warrior in red, she could feel, were still standing in the courtyard and she imagined they were waiting for the fight to continue.

He turned toward the entrance, twirling the spear, jaw tight in displeasure. Then he stepped past her peripheral, just far enough that if she moved, she would creak unnaturally and alert him to her position. It felt like he wasn't there anymore but instinct told her to wait.

A quiet 'tch' echoed to her left and she nearly screamed when the tree behind her shook. His hand ( foot? weapon?) scraped the bark when he pulled back but, finally, his mana signature disappeared.

Her limbs loosened and softened, breath whooshing out of her. The leaf burst into flames, whatever little ash it produced being swept away by the wind. Kagome retreated between the wall and the trees, keeping out of sight as she stumbled over to the entrance.

She was going to go ahead and make the call that things were safe now, with the courtyard still quiet. All the manas were rushing around on the other side of the grounds so this was definitely her chance to leave.

~-End-~

* * *

R&R. Let me know what y'all think! If you see any errors! Thanks!


	2. Hounded on All Sides

Note: I'm so happy to see the fellow Cu Lovers! This boy has seriously got some of the worst luck and I just love every single version of him, _he's fucking delicious and I can't!_

* * *

I usually put this at the end of my fics but, just this once, we're gonna pop it back up to the start of the chapter! Next chapters will have all review responses at the end, like usual.

Lulumo - I was writing out this chapter when I was still a pretty big virgin to this fandom and the idea for her to be able to take on the appearance of a tree was a spur of the moment thing lol Thank you! I am going to do my best to try and mix the aspect of a Mage and a Priestess with someone who was never actually raised in the environment of either! Between you, my muse, and one of my horrible _beautiful_ friends, kagekitsuneoflight, I've got a pretty good idea of how I want to do that xp (Kirei can fuck right off)

Always Keep the Faith - Puns are my nightmare lol I have no idea what I got myself into, I already know it.

BunnyWK - FATE IS SO CONFUSING AND THERE ARE SO MANY BEAUTIFUL BAES SO JOIN US

vixen1991 - oof my heart felt like it went with Cu in Heaven's Feel but _damn_ did they come for libidos with that damn animation!

kanamelover101 - AAAH! Thank you! I hope I can continue to live up to your excitement!

Soup - I love your name, it's amazing xD I'm all for Kagome being as realistic as I can possibly get her, so thanks!

Lady Milk-Tea - ... hi milk hehehe

anyomyoss - haven't really decided how i'm gonna go with the whole demons mixed into the fate verse but he is _definitely not_ her boss, i would never be that cruel to his character. you'll understand in this chapter what i mean

* * *

Warnings: Men can be disgusting. Kirei is extra disgusting. Kirei is literally his own warning.

Scene breaks will be separated by _two_ horizontal lines

* * *

2\. Hounded on All Sides

No packages. No deliveries.

Resigned to indoor work that made her feet ache and hands blister worse than having to trek across the city.

Just two whole days of listing around one of the many offices the Mage's Association owned, doing anything she could. Helping the janitor clean up spills, setting up offices for meetings, fighting with the one wonky industrial printer every company seemed to have. A headache pulsed in her temples as she tried for the _umpteenth_ time to explain why you couldn't send an email filled with _emojis_ _and love confessions to random female employees_.

Their boss hadn't helped by declaring it wasn't harassment because no one had come forward. _Entitled bastard._

She spared a glance down the hall where his office sat, door wide open. She still didn't understand how her boss knew she had been near the school.

Not unless there were more than those two Heroic Spirits there. Watching and relaying back to their Masters. What was worse, Kagome wondered. Knowing the Holy Grail War had started and being on the sidelines or being a participant, knowing you had to kill other people for the possibility of a wish?

But it also didn't make sense. She scowled and crossed her arms, blankly staring down at the sweating employee while her mind wandered. If a Heroic Spirit had been watching her, saw her use Mana and relayed it back to their Master, then why had nothing changed in how her boss treated her?

Which meant he was tracking her phone.

"Higurashi!"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. _'Don't groan. Don't groan. Just smile.'_

Her boss stopped before her, his usual repressed grimace twisting his once-upon-a-time good looks. Her jaw tightened, smile thinning. She remembered how suave he'd acted the first time they met, before he'd been told she was from some has been unheard of mage family. All the hours and work and time he'd promised to help her thrive in a new place flew out the window faster than any demon she'd ever encountered.

This delivery job had been a godsend for both of them.

"Was there something you needed me to do, sir?"

He shoved a stack of packages into her arms, spitting a, "The address for these is written on top. Deliver them. Do not speak. Go." before stalking off back to his office.

She grit her teeth but managed a somewhat decent bow to _harrassamage_ \- honestly, she didn't remember his name and she didn't care to at this point - before pivoting around. Kagome took a moment to stop at the water dispenser and take a few breaths so her mana didn't leak out, bubbling and boiling right under her skin as it was, and gave a small caress to the recently bought, rapidly growing bonsai tree.

Her frown darkened when a spark of her holy energy shot out and fried a branch from it. Correction, she needed a breather for both powers.

So, in a bout of petty revenge, she let the door shut with a satisfying slam on her way out.

It startled a passing employee into dropping all their paperwork, knocking another into the water dispenser. The commotion had everyone stopping. A circle formed around the collapsed coworkers, murmuring and helping them clean up but it wasn't until the boss came over, barking about what happened, that anyone noticed the bonsai tree Higurashi had taken upon herself to add to the decor.

He gaped.

It had tripled in size, thorns protruding from its bark.

* * *

She was cursed.

She had to be.

There was no other way to explain that the very reason she had been confined to office work for two whole days, thus cutting her very much needed paycheck, was looming its also very - hello ley lines - cursed presence at her.

It was the school.

The address had been the school she had almost died near.

Kagome clutched the note in her hand, about ready to turn around and book it back to her apartment. She couldn't go back to work, not with the package still in her possession but she also didn't want to take the risk of running into either of those spirits from the other night.

She chewed on her lip.

"I was hoping you were the one delivering the package."

Every inch of her prickled in alarm. She hadn't met anyone face to face when she made her deliveries. No one should know what she looked like, what her name was. The deliveries were supposed to be _secret, **discreet**_. And it certainly didn't sound like it was from someone who was patient or nice. She turned around slowly, expecting some yakuza thug.

_'Ah.'_

Definitely cursed. No doubt about it.

Otherwise she wouldn't be staring at the same blue warrior responsible for _nearly killing her _the other night. What little luck she did have had him too busy looking around instead of noticing her attention. Her eyes snapped onto the person now standing in front of her, anything to ignore him. And immediately regretted it.

A priest. A very domineering priest. A very _tall_ domineering priest. The more she stared up at him, the smaller she felt. A wave of dread rolled down her back, fueled double by the sudden realization that hit her. This man's energy was, _is,_ the energy mixed with the _Servant_ behind him.

His hands were huge, she thought vaguely, and blanched at the realization he was holding one of her hands. When had that happened!? Rough, thick with callouses and hardened in a way that was suspiciously familiar and made her skin crawl. He bent down, slowly, maintaining eye contact the whole time, to lay a kiss on the back of it.

"I have been impressed so far, _Higurashi-san_, with your quick deliveries and your discretion."

No. _No._ _Nononononononono-_

Him saying her surname was not something she liked. Not at all. With a bit of force, she managed to pull away from him. His grin was _smug_. If she didn't have a contract with this damn company, if the future of her family and her family's shrine wasn't so dependent on this _job_, she would tear into him.

As it was, she stiffly held out the stack of packages, now properly tied and easier to carry no thanks to _someone_ and waited for him to take them from her.

"Hmm..."

Black eyes bored into her own when she looked up at the noise he made. His things hung there between them. People walked around them, on their phones, chatting and laughing with their friends. Blue Spirit had walked over and was now watching her be watched by this priest. Thankfully, he looked more curious than amused.

One of those same calloused hands gripped her by the chin and tilted her head up higher, stopped by her hand coming down on him. Internally, she bristled, ready to murder this bastard if not for the many 'if's' and 'why she couldn't do this or that's' running through her head. The most she could do was slowly bring her raised hands back down and sneer up at the bastard.

The smile from earlier, so smug, was now dripping with malcontent and so oily she felt dirty. But he let her go without a word. He grabbed his package and walked away. His Servant followed behind after a last, lingering look.

Just like that they were gone.

People still walked around her; cars still drove down the road.

And his touch lingered.

Dusk colored the sky by the time she felt her feet were no longer glued to the sidewalk.

* * *

Kirei is the creepiest of creepy fucks I have seen in a long time in anime. And considering Gilles de Rais in fucking Fate/Zero or that mucking Matou Grandpa, that is saying something. I just -shudder-

But anyway, tell me what yall think!


End file.
